Getting back in the biz

Glad you applied, but don't stress this too badly unless they make you an offer. Deciding whether or not to take a job would be a nice problem to have, but you aren't there yet.

 

Well said beanpole...let the process play out rhody, then weight the options that are best for you.

 

I understand this, but I try to be prepared. I'm not going to head anywhere without a game plan, which is I why I'm trying to think this whole process out.

 

I'm trying to think of a single potential job in journalism, where some folks here wouldn't encourage a poor soul to just "go for it", regardless of the details.

 

A job at my last shop.
10.50 an hour in the second-most expensive place to live in RI.

 

I've been out of traditional journalism for the last 3 years and have an opportunity on the table to go back. It would be a slam-dunk 10 years ago, but now the whole thing makes me nervous. I'm having a hard time trading the security of my current gig for a newspaper job that I would love, but won't love me back.

I was born 20 years too late, I think.

 

You really don't know newsrooms.
Stop pretending that you do.

 

Where do I make such a claim?

I'm going on the details provided. Regardless of the details provided, someone here is always willing to suggest that folks "go for it".

Rhody makes more money from caddying and unemployment than this job would likely pay.

And, this job isn't an end game. This is the hope: "I feel like this job could help me get things back into it and if a job ever opens at the big paper, lead me there." And, he's hoping that the experience at a daily, as opposed to a weekly, will help make a difference.

Is this realistic? Rhody is tied to his area because of family obligations. There's basically one big paper in his state. (Unless he's dreaming of working at the Warwick Daily Times or the Newport Daily News.) Is this a good career move?

I hate to be a dream crusher, but I also hate to see people give bullshit, "follow your dreams" advice, regardless of the situation.

 

Yeah, what assholes.

 

Can't speak for others, but I'm not saying "Take the job blindly and never look back"

I'm saying apply for it. Go in with an open mind, but very clear about what you already have and what the future may hold.

 

But, forget for a moment if it's good advice. It's not thoughtful advice. It's easy to say "go for it" when you're not the one taking the risk. Its encouragement for encouragement's sake.

And, if it wasn't for a job in journalism, the advice wouldn't be the same.

If working on an Alaskan fishing boat paid as little as some of the jobs we're talking about paid, would anyone be saying, "go for it"?

So, why do we encourage people to seek jobs that won't pay the bills, and likely won't lead to a job that will?

 

"Go for it," in this case meaning "apply and see what happens," entails no risk whatsoever. And, the benefit in a best-case scenario would be that he gets what he said he wanted in the first place.